Hi there, my name is Courtney, and my Husband, the immigrant's, name is Jesse (From the UK: England).

I've been doing some lurking on this forum, trying to find out what I can, but unfortunately, I have questions that I can't find answers to, and so, I turn to you lot. Please take the time to read all of this, it would be most appreciated.

My Husband and I wed on May 20th, of 2013, in front of a Magistrate in a courthouse, with my mother and her wife present. A friend of the family I've known for a long time, and my son (who is my mother's wife's adopted son, long story, not going into it) were present for the "after party" across the green, for cake, and champagne in the park.

Since then, we were approved and seen by USCIS in Philly (which is a horrible place), and Jesse was given his green card. We didn't initially think anything about it lasting 2 years. We thought, perhaps, this was a preliminary green card, and we'd simply have to call and replace it. We have never ONCE received paperwork from USCIS it was conditional, nor were we told by the woman who approved us in our joint interview. So, now, six months or so before we need to file, we're absolutely SCRAMBLING to find 'evidence' of our marriage.

There are several problems, however, severe ones. Now, don't get confused, my Husband and I are very genuinely in love, and our marriage is quite real. The major problems lie with me.

List:

*I am on SSI, and have been since I was 16. That is my source of income, and so, when we filed, we had my mother's wife sponsor him with me, so we could meet the financial requirements. I do not remember if I am main or joint sponsor, she did most of the paperwork. I am a bit slow, as well, so this is all very hard for me to understand.

Because of my SSI, I cannot afford much of anything. At all. I cannot afford a car, I cannot afford insurance, my health 'insurance' is state sponsored Medical Assistance. I also have student loans, totalling over $10,000 or more because I went to college when I was 18, and am still trying to pay them off. Granted, I've defaulted a few times, because life got hard, and so my credit is in the gutter, trying to be rebuilt. I cannot take out loans or be approved for credit cards.

I have nothing to my name, really. I live in a mobile home, purchased for me by my mother's wife to keep me closer to home, instead of living in an apartment that could be sold out from under me. She pays for the monthly loan on the house, and I pay the rent, so I am allowed to live here. The lease has my name on it. We have tried to get a hold of our landlords since finding out about this "removal of conditions" thing, but we don't know if adding him to the lease so late will help.

Another thing is joint bank accounts. After our meeting with USCIS, on the drive home from Philly, my Husband lost his passport. We spent ages looking for it, and finally, just applied for a new one for him, to be sent from England/Britain. It took over a year to arrive here, for all sorts of issues. Mostly, the passport photos took the longest to take. The US does not take UK-sized photos anywhere, so I had to take them myself, and mail them to his father, who is a photographer. When he got his passport, we applied right away for his social security card. But, again, because I have no vehicle, and no way to get to the social security office nearest me (which is over an hour away...), we had to wait until my mother's wife wasn't busy, because she was the only one willing to take us. She's a doctor, so she has insane hours.

When my Husband received his SS card, we looked for jobs for him for months, and he was only recently hired at Wal-mart as of last month, with a cruddy, part-time job, which is all they had available. He also tells me that his tax filing is only to begin next year, because it is "per annum", I guess yearly.

So, these are most of the problems. All the utilities have always been in my name, because I was the one paying them before he got here. I've since tried to add him to the accounts as co owner, but the utility companies won't let me. He's a "customer contact", instead, that's all they can provide. My bank account is in my name, and still has my maiden name, because I can't over to the DMV, which is in the next town, and my mother's wife is now refusing to help us anymore. So, I cannot add him to my bank account. We cannot take out a loan for any reason, or a credit card together, because of my credit rating. We have no children, either, because I am diabetic and at risk for complications, but we do want them in the future.

The most we have is mail addressed to the both of us from some relatives. Some mail with his name on it, his USCIS mail with his name and our address on it, his work information with our address on it, he has a life insurance policy from work listing me as his wife and the receiver, he says. This is pretty much it. We don't really have a lot of pictures with me in them, either, because I'm fat and hate having my picture taken. We have LOTS of pictures of HIM, however, in places we've gone, but the places we went to on vacation are from before we were married. Affadavits may also be out of the picture, because the ONLY people we know who could write them, would be my mother, and her wife. And since they are in the midst of a divorce, and my mother has cut all ties with everyone, she will not write one. The wife is being stubborn and like I said, refuses to put in effort, so she likely won't either. She has a new girlfriend, who we've met multiple times, and knows we're a married couple, but I don't think she will write one, either. And the family friend who attended our after party in the park, will likely not, either, because she is a busy, elderly woman.

We have no friends, because this is a college town, and we mostly keep to ourselves, no interest in the younger crowd. Our neighbours we hardly know, because we have no interest in knowing them. They're nosey old biddies, as are our landlords. I think we're up the creek with no paddle.

Overall, the future looks bleak. Our marriage was on a whim, but we really do love one another deeply, and certainly didn't marry to skirt immigration law; I describe our decision to be wed as a "whirlwind" romance, and it has indeed been a whirlwind. We married because we wanted to be with one another for life, because when you deep down know you've met your soulmate...you just know. But now, we're stuck.

I'm scared to death I'm going to lose my Husband because of our poor situation, and with my joint sponsor refusing to help out, and giving us minimal support (IE a text once or twice a month that says "hey" or "how you doing"), I'm at wit's end. Please if you have ANY advice, let me know. I would appreciate it deeply. We don't have the money for a lawyer, and there are no lawyers who will do this pro bono for us, I'm sure, so that advice is out. But if you have any other ideas, we'd thank you for them.

Submit everything you have as that is all you can do. I actually don't think a lawyer can help you. They can't fabricate evidence or explain better than you can that you were uninformed. You most certainly will be interviewed where you both will have to explain your circumstances.

You keep mentioning your financial sponsor but where is your spouse's responsibility in all of this as well? Your sponsor was taking a risk in helping you and under no obligation to do so. They are financially liable for your spouse for 10 years or until your spouse receives citizenship (I think) without clear benefit.

Just FYI, the information about conditional residency is on the instructions for the I-130 form that you and your spouse (and not your sponsor) had to fill out. I have no idea why you thought you would just call and renew the green card - the hoops we all had to jump through to receive it should have been an indication that extending it would never be just a phone call away.

Worst case scenario, if you don't have enough evidence, you'll get an interview. In the unlikely event that you guys don't pass the interview even though you are living together and your marriage is real, you still get to go to Immigration Court and prove your marriage to a judge. Get your mom and her wife to write affidavits for you guys to send as evidence with your initial filing. Also write a cover letter explaining for example about your bad credit hence no credit cards etc.

Entry on VWP to visit then-boyfriend 06/13/2011

Married 06/24/2011

Our first son was born 10/31/2012, our daughter was born 06/30/2014, our second son was born 06/20/2017

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